The Line
by Freedra Kyes
Summary: How do you know when you've crossed the line between infatuation and love?"
1. Chapter 1

"How do you know when you've crossed the line," my English professor said, "from infatuation into love?" Several people rose their hands, but he had called on me. "Well?" he asked.  
"I suppose," I began, "It varies from person to person, a.."  
He cut me off, "Very good, Ms. Kyes. Anyone else?"  
This guy I sorta like, Hunter Bradley, answered, "When you feel that no one can take their place."  
"That's one opinion," the proffesor said, "Any others?"  
There were many other suggestions, but, however, none stuck with me but his. Later in the dorm.....  
"Hey, Freed," my friend Tru asked, "You think that Brooks guy likes me?"  
"Who? Dustin; yeah. He's a friend of mine." "What?!?" she practically yelled in my ear. "Yeah,"I replied, "I was a volunteer on the emergency station when he accidentally crashed and broke his leg. And basically talked with him throughout his whole recovery, and discovered we had a lot in common." "You're not like... together are you?" "What? Of course not. We're just really good friends." "Oh, ok." Tru looked relieved at this. "You don't suppose u could ask him if he wanted to hang with me sometime, would u?" "What? With him? I don't know..." I replied jokingly. "Come on, Freed! please?"  
"All right, just don' t be surprized if he has to bail all of a sudden."  
Tru seemed to be in a frenzy of excitement. "Yes! Ok! What? Yes! I do! I mean, uh," she started coughing, trying to cover up the slip, and then started jumping for joy on her bed. "Awesooooome!!!!!! Yessss!!" She began to cough slightly again. "Ok," i said, a bit weirded out. "I'll see you later, you know, music lessons. "Yeah, I'll be there..." she looked a bit starry-eyed as I left the room, shouting at her, "You don't take music lessons!! Snap out of it!" "What?" Tru looked at me, still bouncing on the bed so that I feared it would break. I shook my head as I walked back into the room.  
"You have computer lessons to be going to; C'mon, I'll walk with you." "Ok..." she said, making a loud thud as she jumpd off her bed. I wished she wouldn't do that, because I knew our neighbors below us didn't really appreciate that. I know; they've told me. While walking, someone "accidentally" bumped into us. "Hey! Watch......Dustin?"  
He grinned evilly at us.  
"Oh, my God, you jerk!" "Hey, what can I say? I knew I was going to 'bump into you, and what do you know. Hey, who's this," he asked, pointing at Tru.  
"Tru Adele, she's my roommate," and I whispered to him, "and I think she's got a crush on u," but before that, Tru was practically drooling on my sandal. "I do not you lying little-" I stopped her before she strangled me, saying, "I'll talk to you ater." She sighed, smiling at Dustin, "Yeah..." He smiled at us, well, more at her, and left. "Oh, my gosh, ur a total space case around him!" I practically shouted to get her attention. She barely snapped out of her daze, "Hm?" That was it. I grabbed my water bottle, opened it, and dumped the contents over her head. She cursed, coming to full attention, "What was that for!?" "For acting like a total space cadet!" She looked at me, or somewhere behind me, zoning again, "Space cadet? Nice..." Little did I know, but I was about to be bombarded with water balloons. As soon as I felt the crashing of was and the explosions of rubber balloons stop, I wheeled around to see Dustin and his guy friends, Shane Clarke, Blake Bradley, and .......Hunter, all laughing because I was completely soaked. "Immature freaks!" I yelled, trying to be extremely mad, but failing. Tru was laughing too, being only lightly showered with what had deflected from me. "Oh," I said, warningly, "You're going to get it now," and I charged at them, tackling Dustin, and putting him into a headlock. "Say 'Uncle', " I told him.  
"What? Never!" "You've forced me to bring out my secret weapon," and I took out my magic marker, opened it and waved it menacingly. "Ok; I give. Uncle!"  
I let him go, and he tackles me right back.  
Shane and Blake watched us amused, while Hunter and Tru weren't so much. "Now you say uncle," he said, getting me pinned.  
"Never!" I said dramatically.  
"All right, but you'll be la-ate," he said in a sing-song voice.  
"What?" I asked, "Fine, I give! Uncle, uncle!!" He let me get up and I grabbed Tru's hand, shouting, "This isn't over!!"  
"Ok, Freed," Tru asked. "What was that?"  
"What? Can we talk about this later. I'm late."  
"I don't care, what was that?"  
"Look, if you think we're a couple, I've already told you that we're really good friends. He's like a brother to me. You have nothing to worry about."  
She lightened up. "Ok, I'll see you later," and she merrily skipped up the stairs to her class.  
I stared after her wondering how i ever became such good friends with her, and if I would ever understand her. Oh, well.  
When I got there, the instructor was talking to a tall muscular blond guy.  
I went silently to get my flute and put it together just as silently and sat at my spot.  
"Class," he said in a bit of a nasally voice, "We have a new student joining our percussion group. Mr. Bradley, would you please stand up?" I froze in shock. Hunter? Here? That just wasn't happening. I turned around in time to see him give a small embarrassed wave and sit back down again.  
All through that class, I tried to concentrate more on my music than the fact that my secret crush was in that building.  
When it was done, I ran back to the computer building.  
An oriental guy was the first to come out.  
"Hey, C!" I said as he past.  
He just waved and walked on by.  
"I can not believe him!!!!" a raging voice came, catching me off guard, making me thank god that she didn't hear me.  
"Rough day?" I predicted. "Incredibly," Tru answered.  
I sighed, "Tell me."  
"Well, that Cmeron Watanabi was showing me up all day!!"  
"I hear he's like a super genius or something."  
"Whatever," she barked, "Next time, he should watch out."  
'Uh-oh,' I thought, 'this could turn out bad', so I said, "Look, Tru, Hun, relax. I 'm sure he wasn't meaning..."  
"Oh, he was meaning to, alright. Next tome I see him, I'll knock him out." "Tru, you need to rela-AAX!!" I said, shreiking the last part.  
I didn't know what happened buti did know it wasn't good.  
"Tru," you may want to step back."  
"Why?" she asked, doing as she was told.  
The sound of liquid hitting the pavement was heard.  
"That's why," I replied.  
"Ew, blue...hair.......dye. Oh, wow, Freed. C'mon." She and I raced back to our dorm. After washing out the exess dye, thanking God it didn't stick to my skin, my waist length dark blond hair was now navy blue. My face may have expressed tranquility, but I was burning with rage. "Dustin Brooks!" I growled, "This means war."  
"Freed," Tru said scared, "Don't do anything drastic--Please!"  
I could never bear to see my best friend beg, so I caved.  
"All right, no war," I told her, but I was planning something.  
"Come on," I said, "I was going to meet him at Storm Chargers."  
She began to jump up and down, and space again.  
"On second thought, if I'm going to get anything done, I probably should go about it alone."  
She stopped. "What?!? Please, please, please!"  
"Well, you'll have to behave," I said as she nodded,  
"And you'll have to drool less. Deal?"  
"Yep, but I don't drool!" she said and I drove us both in my black and silver bug.  
"Hey, Kel," we said at different times.  
"Whoa, Freed," Kelly said looking at my hair. "What happened?"  
"Really don't know," I replied, "Can I talk to Dustin?"  
"Yeah, he's in the back."  
When I looked over, I saw him duck behind the counter.  
As I got there, I pulled him up by his shirt collar and slammed him against a wall, hissing, "You ever pull crap like this again, and I'll cut off your shortest appendage, and I don't mean your head."  
He gulped, knowing exactly what I meant and stammered, "I-I didn't do it! It was some other goon."  
"Yeah, sure."  
"It was!"  
"All right, all right," I whispered, noticing that Tru was coming over. "I'll believe you....for now. One more quick thing. Tru over there wants to date you and maybe do a little extra," I said the last part to deliberately get her mad. "EW!" she near-shrieked. "No, no, no, NO!! That's gross!"  
Dustin and I laughed at her reaction.  
I continued, "What I was going to say is that she really wants to kiss you, possibly some snogging later on," I noticed Tru's confused look, and said, "but I doubt it."  
"Wha..." she asked dumbfoundedly, and then got it. "You're right to doubt that! That's BAD!!"  
"Hey, Ladies," Kelly snapped, "Please keep it down!"  
"Yes, Ma!" I replied.  
"What?!?" "I said, 'Yes, Kel.' You heard me, didn't you?" I asked Dustin.  
"Sounded like Kel to me," he replied getting the message. "No," Tru argued, "I specifically heard-" I shook my head. "Kel," she finished.  
"Oh, ok," Kel said and dropped the matter altogether.  
"Now," Dustin began, "Tell us, what's up between you and Hunter?"  
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I don't know what you're talking about." "I saw how you looked at him and today in band! You just froze up when you found out he was there."  
"So?" I countered, "that doesn't mean anything."  
"Actually, Freed," Tru said, all goofily and dreamy-like, staring at Dustin," it could mean something."  
"Fine," I said, then lied, "I-I don't like the boy. Happy?"  
Dustin looked at me skeptically while Tru was drooling a river.  
"I really doubt that," he said, but changed the subject. "How did you do in Mr. Farley's class?" Mr. Farley's the math teacher.  
"A, why? You didn't fail the test again, did you?"  
He gave me a sheepish look.  
"Oh my God, Dustin! Do you know how much that will hurt your grade?"  
"No......."  
"That was a major part of it!"  
He gave me a nervous scared look. "Well, at least I failed high."  
I rolled my eyes. "I'm in the tutorial program, so I could tutor you some."  
His eyes lit up, "Would you?" he asked. "I'll see what I can do," I told him. "But no promises." He gave me a big smile, saying, "Thank you." I nodded. That would be easier said than done. "Dustin, if you see Hunter, don't tell him anything, ok?" He nodded and scribbled something down on a scrap of paper and handed it to Tru. She smiled at him, he smiled at her, and I waved my hand in front of both the space cases' faces. Neither she nor he snapped out of their trances.  
"Hey, Kel, can you help me? Tru and I need to get back." "No prob," she replied. "Dustin! Go to the back and grab a box of motocross gloves. If you don't; you're fired." Dustin broke his stare and ran to the back, with Tru staring after him. I rolled my eyes, and said, "If she ever wakes up, could you tell her I left for my journalism meeting, and I will not be back." "Sure," Kelly replied. "Thanks," I told her, then tried once more to contact Tru. "Hey! Tru, I'm leaving now!!!" I think leaving her there was such a great idea, but if I needed to be somewhere, I'm sure she'd understand, especially since I had left her with her crush.  
  
Hey, guys! Thanks for reading, and CamFan, if you're reading, I'm wondering if you'd want to be in this story too! You'd be the chief editor to the school newspaper, and I'll hook you up with a certain samurai!! 


	2. Chapter 2

On my way out, I ran into someone.  
"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," I said, then looked up.  
"No, I probably should have been watching where I was going," Hunter said. "I guess it's both our faults, then," I replied. "I guess so," he said, putting on his cute smile.  
While this was going, my heart was going a million miles an hour, but I was trying to be an actress, so I played it cool.  
"So what are u up to?" he asked.  
"Well, I was just heading to my journalism meeting... Oh, shoot. Hey, Kelly, can I use your phone?" "Yeah, it's over by the cash register."  
"Thanks," and I dialed the newspaper.  
"Hello? This is Candice Frank, Editor of the campus newspaper speaking. If this is Freedra Kyes, you're late."  
"Hey, Candi, I know I'm late; that's why I'm calling. I need you to do me a favor."  
"If it's about the position, I can't promise anything."  
"You know I want the Fiction section."  
"I know, but I can't promise anything."  
"You know I can write."  
"Yes, but you're not here."  
"Ok, look, I didn't want it to come to this, but I know who you like," I whispered into the phone.  
"You do?" she squeaked.  
"Yes, and I can probably get him to go out with you."  
"No way!!"  
I jumped and held the receiver a foot from my ear.  
When it was safe, I said, "Yes, but it'll be hard."  
"All right, and you wanted what column?"  
"Fiction, please."  
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow at 7:00."  
"Sounds good." I hung up and headed back to Hunter, who was working on his bike. "Sorry about that."  
"No prob," he replied. He sounded grateful I didn't have to go anywhere.  
"So, what're you up to?"  
"Oh, nothing much, just making some adjustments."  
"Really?" I said, very much interested, "Would you explain?"  
"You'd probably find it boring."  
"On the contrary, it sounds pretty interesting."  
He gave me a surprised look, then explained everything, with me asking questions every now and then.  
"Wow," he commented, after a while. "I never knew a girl who liked this stuff, well, besides Kelly, anyways."  
"Yeah, people can surprise."  
"I guess so," he said and smiled again. "You know, the blue hair doesn't look so bad."  
"Huh?" I asked, temporarily forgetting about my hair.  
"Your hair," he said, reaching out and showing me it.  
"Oh!" I said, remembering, embarrassed. "Thanks; it wasn't intentional."  
He laughed and I could have kicked myself for saying that.  
"What was the phone call for?" He asked.  
"The campus paper. I'll be writing fiction for it."  
"Sounds interesting. What do you write?" He kept working on his bike.  
"Just some short stories and poetry."  
"About?" he asked, knowing I was getting a bit embarrassed about the subject.  
"Love and its mushy goodness," I replied laughing.  
"Interesting."  
"I s'pose," and I caught Dustin's look at us. "Hey, after you get done, do you want to help me on a sort of 'Mission Impossible'?"  
"Uh, sure, what is it?"  
"You know Cam, right?"  
"Yeah, why?" he asked, sounding like he didn't like it.  
"I'm trying to hook him up with someone with him."  
"Who?"  
I thought for a moment; then said, "Do you promise not to tell?"  
"Yeah," he replied.  
"Candice Frank."  
"You don't mean Candi 'Dragon Lady' Frank?"  
"Shane. Apparently, from him, she ripped his head off viciously and painfully."  
"That would explain the name."  
We laughed, then I asked, "So, are you in?"  
"Um, sure."  
"Great, do you have his number?"  
"Why?"  
"I need to call him."  
"Oh. You got a pen?"  
I handed him one, and he looked for something to write on.  
"Could you write it on my hand? I won't lose it as easily as I would a piece of paper."  
"Um, sure," and he wrote two numbers on my hand, then specified them.  
"Why'd you give me yours?" I asked.  
"To update me on the mission."  
"Oh, ok. Well, I'll let you finish; sorry I took up most of your time up a..."  
"No big," he replied. "Talk to you later."  
"Yep," I replied and dragged Tru out of the door.  
"Wha....?" she asked when we got back to our dorm.  
"We had to get back."  
"But..."  
"Look, I can give you Dustin's number, but I've got to make a few calls now."  
As I ignored her telling me something about not being able to use it, I first called up the tutorial program.  
"Hello, Ms. Yumi?"  
"Yes?"  
"This is Freedra Kyes."  
"Oh! I was just about to call you. I have a new student enrolled in the tutorial system, Dustin Brooks, and I..."  
"Yes, I'll do it."  
"Ok, then. You start tomorrow."  
"Ok, thanks, bye."  
"Bye."  
I hung up and called Dustin next.  
"Hello?" he asked.  
"Hey, Dustin; it's Freed. About the tutorial thing..."  
"You got it?" he interrupted.  
"Hold on...well, yeah."  
"Oh, awesome, thanks."  
"Yep, bye."  
Next I called Cam.  
"Hello? May I ask who this is?"  
"Good evening Sensei Watanabe. This is Freedra Kyes, may I talk with Cam?"  
"Yes, just a second."  
"Thank you."  
"You're quite welcome."  
Then there was a pause and an irritated voice came on the phone, "Hello?"  
"Hi, Cam."  
"How'd you get this number?"  
"Not important, but I do know someone who likes you."  
"Really?" he said, almost bored.  
"Yeah, and I just so happen to know who you like her too."  
There was a choking sound, then a gulp. "R-really?: he asked more interested.  
"Yeah, I'll give you the details later, after our math class."  
"Ok."  
"Later," I said.  
"Yep."  
After I hung up, I called Hunter.  
"Are you almost done?" Tru asked.  
"Yeah," I replied, "Last call."  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, this is Freed; is Hunter there?"  
"This is him."  
"He," I corrected.  
"Huh?"  
"Never mind, just called Cam and it looks go so far."  
"Great. Um, I was wondering if you and your friend would like to come to my next race."  
"I'm on the medic team as a volunteer," I replied, "I'll be there."  
"Oh," he sounded surprised. "Ok, then. See you this weekend."  
"Yeah, later."  
As soon as I had hung up with him, Tru pounced on the phone, proclaiming it was her own, but I knew better than to argue.  
"Ok......." I said, rolling my eyes.  
"What?" she asked, "I need to make an important phone call."  
I nodded and wrote the two new numbers into my little black book. Then I consentrated on what to write for the first edition of "The Buzz" our newspaper.  
So I took out a piece of paper and thought for a while, but I guess my thought drifted away from my agenda to........who else? Hunter Bradley, and I guess the words just sort of started to flow.  
  
I see you around

In classed and out.

In my favorite hang out

And at the track.

I see you.

The way you move

The way you race

The way you smile

I'm captivated

I'd tell you

But fear keeps me

Trapped in my heart

Set me free

"Oh, my gosh, Freed, this is amazing," Candi said, the next morning as I handed in my assignment. "Where'd you get this?"  
"I wrote it, Candi," I replied.  
"I realize that, but I guess I never thought that you could write about love so well. And who is this lucky boy?"  
"That I could not tell, even him. I'm just too shy."  
"Whoa, hold up. Freedra Kyes, too shy?" Candi scoffed. "I hardly believe it."  
"Well, start. I'm not all brutal honesty. So, is it good to be put in?"  
"Uh, yeah!"  
"Cool; I'll see you later. I'm running late for math."  
"Ok, I'll get this in," she replied.  
And I headed to Math when I ran into someone.  
  
Well, I'll leave it there. Hope you like it. Later, Freed. P.S. Camfan, I can't give you updates, because I guess I'm not on your buddy list or something, but you should be able to recognize who u are in this. If not your name sounds like a name from in here.  
  
Well, anyways, that's all I've gotten so far. Ciao!!!! 


	3. Chapter 3

"Dustin?" I asked the next morning heading to math class.

"Look," he replied, "I know what's going on."

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah, and I don't want you to hurt him."

"Look, Dustin, whatever you think I'm going to do, most likely I won't . But I will tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone."

"All right," he replied uncertainly.

"I like him; I really like him."

"I thought so."

As he left, I wondered what the heck he meant by that, but decided to leave it alone and walked into my math class.

"Hey," I said casually to Cam as I took a seat next to him.

"Oh, hey, Freed," he replied, looking very preocupied with something.

"Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, nothing, really, just some adjustments to my computer's hard drive."

"Hmm..." I said, "Sounds interesting."

"It actually is, but the whole project is kinda hush-hush; you know how it is."

"Yeah," I replied, a bit disappointed, but the bell rang, and our math class began. After it ended, Cam tapped my arm.

"Hmm?" I asked, sweeping some navy colored hair out of my eyes.

"Didn't you have blonde hair?" he asked obviously trying to make some form of conversation.

"Yeah," I replied, "Long story; any who, I'm going to hook you up on a blind date, ok?"

"I don't know...." he said worriedly.

"Well, we could make it a double-blind date, I suppose."

He gave me a look saying "I'm not so sure about this."

"It'll be ok. I'll choose a girl for you; you choose a guy for me. And if it blows, you'll at least know you tried it."

He nodded with submission.

"Ok, see you tonight at seven."

He nodded again and we walked to our separate destination.

Then I saw Tru, walking absently by a road.

'No big,' I thought, but I was dead wrong.

In a matter of seconds, that ticked away so slowly, there was a shout, the second of tires screeching to a halt, and the sickly sound that a car makes when it hits an unfortunate animal. Then it became deathly silent, but by that time I had my eyes shut tight, afraid of what they might show me. Finally I worked up the courage to wrench them open, and I saw her, on the ground and then a helmet being thrown off , revealing the most unlikly person standing in a state of utter shock.

"Oh, my God," Dustin Brooks said, breaking the chilling silence. "What just happened?" Then he got off a motorbike and got someone to call 911.

And me, all I could do was just stand there like an idiot watching as the paramedics took my best friend on a streacher.

The next thing I knew, Dustin was standing in front of me, saying, "Freed? Are you ok?"

I just took one look at him and my tears started falling. I laid my head on his shoulder and said, "I can't believe what just happened," and I threw my arms around his neck, and broke down.

As he hugged me back, he whispered, "Sh, I know. Why don't we go back to your place. We can forget about the tutoring tonight."

I nodded as he led me back to the dorm we shared, when I said, "No."

"Huh?"

"I don't want to go back."

"Then we could go to my place," he said, and I nodded, liking his idea better.

Once I was in the safety of his dorm that he shared with Shane, and I went off and started crying again. What happened today was all too real for me.

And all the while, Dustin sat patiently, waiting for my tears to stop.

Once I was calmed down, I asked, "Can I borrow your phone?"

"Yeah."

And I dialed up Cam's number.

"Hello?" a voice asked.

"Is Cam there?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit.

"This is he," Cam replied, his voice suddenly turning very concerned. "Are you ok?"

I was about to tell him a lie, when he told me not to.

"Just barely... Oh, no, not at all."

"Why not?"

"My friend Tru got hit by a motor vehicle."

"Oh, wow, Freed. I'm sorry."

"I just stood there like an idiot. She was just lying there; I couldn't even see if she was breathing."

"Where are you right now?"

"Dustin's dorm, wh..."

"I'll be right there."

"But...." but it was to late to argue; he had hung up the phone.

"Who'd you call?" Dustin asked after I hung up. He handed me a glass of water.

"Thanks; Cam. I told him what happened. He said he'd be coming over." I sipped some of the water in the glass.

Dustin nodded and said, "You're, like, one of his only friends. He would be concerned for you."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and as soon as Dustin opened it, a very concerned Cam looked over Dustin's shoulder at me.

"Come in," Dustin said.

Cam thanked him; then came over to me and asked, "You ok?"

I looked at him, as if saying, "Do I freakin' look ok?!?"

"If your best friend got hit by a motorized vehicle, would you be ok?" I asked him calmly.

"Oh," he said, "Right."

"I-I want to go see her," I said after a while of silence.

"You sure?" Cam asked.

I nodded and Dustin drove Cam and myself to the hospital.

As Cam talked to a receptionist about her, Dustin sat with me as I rambled on about something.

"Well," Cam after coming back, "The good news is that there was no severe damage, just a broken arm. The bad news is that she's still out cold. And visiting hours are practically non-existant here."

I nodded, and Dustin drove Cam and me back to my dorm, Cam having canceled the blind date.

To this day I still don't know who hit Tru, but I can tell you it wasn't Dustin.

Well, this is the long over due third chapter, and I hope you liked.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, I just want to thank all my loyal reviewers, which just so happens to be only two people, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. But thanks guys, your reviews mean the world to me.

The next morning, I woke, expecting to hear Tru sayâ.something, but instead heard nothing.

That's when reality hit me like a semi, so I looked for Cam instead, but he had already left.

As I showered, got dressed, and headed to the track for my volunteer job as a paramedic.

As I neared my vehicle, I saw Hunter in his racing gear leaning on it.

"Hey," I said, "Whacha up to?"

"Nothing much," he replied, "Thought you might give me a ride."

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, "Hop in."

As he did so, he told me, "Just heard about your friend; sorry about that."

"Cam talked with a receptionist there, and he told us that she only had a broken arm and that she was still out."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod; then ask, "You ok?"

"As good as can be expected," I replied.

"You'll be alright," he told me.

I smiled and parked, not bothering to announce that we were there to him. When I was getting out of the car, he grabbed my arm and yanked me back in.

"You sure?"

I smiled and said, "Yes, I'll be fine," and I pecked him on the cheek. "Now go; good luck; your race is gonna start."

After we got out, I locked the doors and headed to the medic tent, where someone clad in yellow sat holding a compress to his head.

"Hey, Dustin, what happened?"

"I don't really know."

"Uh-huh," I said, grabbing a small flashlight and flashing it into his eyes. His pupils dilated, but not a whole lot. "Concussion, dude."

He nodded slightly, probably to avoid the pain in his head to rattle.  
"You want me to get you a cold one?" I asked, feeling that the first one had gone warm.

"Yeah," he replied, "that would be nice."

I nodded and as soon as I got one, I saw a gnarly wreck out on the track.

"Here, Dustin," I said, handing him the colder one; then asked Shane, who was standing near by, to watch him.

As I sped out to the track, I saw them pull a bike off the rider with the number "06".

I gasped and dropped on my knees beside him while the others got a stretcher.

"Tell it to me straight, Freed," he said, "How bad is it?"

I knew it was Hunter.

"Your leg's badly twisted, possibly broken. And by the way you fell, something in your back could have been broken also. That's why you _cannot _get up. You might dislocate it." I didn't even tell him about there being a chance that he might never walk again.

"Figures," he said; then laughed shortly and dryly. "No wonder I hurt like hell." I smiled at him, but I was still scared.

When the stretcher came, I told them what I thought might have happened, and they put a brace around him and as gently as they could, put him on the stretcher.

As I walked with them, Blake showing up out of no where, I told a younger member of the team, Alex, to stay behind and watch Dustin and call if he fell asleep.

As I rode with Blake and Hunter, Hunter could tell that I had not given him the whole truth.

"Freed, you're sitting there like a zombie; you didn't tell it to me straight."

"Yes, I did," I argued.

"No," He said, "Not entirely."

I sighed as tears came to my eyes. "All right, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Blake and Hunter asked in unison.

"Along with a possible broken leg and spine, there's a risk of paralization. I'm not sure how far up or down."

"How big?" Blake asked.

"A fairly good chance," I told them.

Blake's jaw dropped, and, if Hunter wasn't still wearing his helmet, I could probably see his mouth gaping open too.

"I'm sorry," I told Hunter, "I should have told you sooner. I just didn't want you to stress too much."

A single tear slipped out of my control and slipped down my cheek.

They both looked at me in silence.

Before we got there, I wrote some notes on his vitals, like blood pressure and breath rate. When we stopped, I helped wheel Hunter out of the ambulance, but stuck around to close the doors.

I sighed again, and, not knowing what else to do, went into the waiting room and sat in a chair.

"You might want to tell him the other secret you have," a voice whispered in my ear, causing me to jump clear out of my seat.

I turned around and smiled. "Oh, Blake, you scared the living hell out of me."

He smiled as if he meant to do that. "Sorry, but you really should tell himâ..you know."

I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "I'm just scared."

"Give it a shot," he told me, "you might be surprised how worth the while it is."

I smiled and shook my head. "How do you know what to say when a girl feels down? Thanks."

"Hey, no prob."

"I'll see you later," and I decided to go check up on Tru.

When I got there, I noticed she was still out, but I went in anyways.

As I sat, I got this gut feeling that she was going to wake soon, so I braced myself.

Almost as if on cue, she bolted up saying, "You can't use the phone!"

As soon as she was out of her daze, she asked, "Where am I?"

I laughed, "In the hospital with a broken arm."

"Ok," she said; then after a pause, "Cool."

"Yeah," I said.

"And why are you here?"

"Well," I began absently but snapped back," I came back to see how you were doing, but I came after Hunter crashed andâ.." and I lost focus again.

"Ha, ha," she said, mockingly.

"Yeahâ.." I replied absently again.

"Freed?" When she got no response, she asked, "Hello? Earth to Freedra! FREED!"

I jumped back into reality. "What?"

She gave me a weird look. "You really like that guy, don't you?"

"More than you know," I replied.

She gave me another weird look but said, "Get going."

"Huh?" I asked

"Go to him; then I can't believe what I'm saying, but just go."

"You sure?"

"Yes, yes. Just go before I throw up."

"Thanks," I replied and walked quickly out to the E.R just in time to hear a yell of pain

"What just happened?" I asked.

"The doctors supposedly sedated him enough to pop his leg back into place."

But what I didn't know was the operating doctors had committed a mistake which would have life altering circumstances for us all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5, The Line

The next time I saw him, a few weeks later, because of him being unconscious, my eyes were near brimming with tears and the doctor explained the situation.

"Things in the operating room didn't o as smoothly as what we would have hoped forâ.." and the doctors had explained that Hunter would be paralyzed from the hip joints down.

He looked uber-shocked and angry and scared all at the same time.

After the doctor left, Hunter had not said a word.

"I tried to warn you, "I began, but stopped and sat on his bed by his side. "I'm sorry this happened.

He just looked at me in utter shock and confusion, speechless.

"And there's something else I want to tell you, "I told him; then gulped. "I just don't know if now's the right time and all, bu—"

And at that exact moment, he cut me off with a gentle kiss.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn't.

When he broke it, he said, "I like you."

My heart fluttered with joy.

"Good," I replied, smiling as I leaned up on him and put my head on his shoulder.

"How do you know just the right spot to put your head against?"

"Intuition," I replied, sorta snuggling against him.

Then we heard, "Ew; I think I'm going to toss cookies."

We looked over and saw Tru holding her stomach with her good arm.

"You sure know how to spoil a moment!" I shouted mock angrily at her; then laughed.

She grinned.

A few days later, Hunter bought a motorized wheelchair.

Later that day, I was at his place when he confessed something I never thought possible."

"You know the power rangers, right?"

"Yeahâ." I said slowly, trying to process where this would go.

"Well," he told me, "I am, err, was one of them."

I stared at him blankly.

"Freed?" he asked as he pulled me into his lap. "Say something."

"What's there to say?" I replied.

"You don't--"

"No, I do believe you; it's justâ..that's a bit of a bomb to drop on someone." I laid my head on his shoulder.

I know; I'm sorry,' he replied stroking my now light brown hair; then added, "I liked your hair better this way."

I smiled; then said, "We should take Cam on a blind date."

"And you know just who to call?"

I nodded.

"Excuse me real quick, and he wheeled himself to his bathroom.

We resumed our places when he came back and I said, "Yeah, I still owe Candy."

It felt as though he nodded, and I got up to use his phone.

"May I?" I asked.

He nodded, wheeling himself over and literally pulled me back into his lap. I shrieked a bit, because he surprised me; the giggled and dialed up Candy.

"Hello? Candace Frank speaking. If this is Freedra Kyes, she owes me big time."

"Hey, Candy. Yeah, I know, but I've been a bit busy myself for a while. But I have a casual blind date scheduled for you and myself and my new boyfriend forâ.tonight at around seven."

"No way," she said, "Who is he?"

"Hu--" I began, but was abruptly cut off by Hunter accidentally pulling my hair, "Ow!"

"Huh?"

"Sorry, just a sec," and I turned to Hunter, "Could you just hold still for a minute?"

"Sorry, I'll try."

"Ok," I said to Candy, "I'mâ."

"With Hunter Bradley?" she squealed, obviously hearing his voice.

I smiled and laughed a bit, "Yeah; I've got to call your blind date, ok?"

"With Cam, right?"

"You'll see; bye," and I hung up without hearing another work.

Then I called up her blind date and scheduled it with him.

After that, I called up Tru.

"Hey, you still want that date with Dustin?"

"Yes," she said.

"Ok," and I gave her his number. "I'll talk to you later," I told her and I hung up.

Later that night, I drove Hunter and myself to pick up Candace's date, then drove to her place.

I pulled up to the curb and parked. "I'll be right back, get ready for screaming," I told them and ran up to her dorm. She came out waiting to see who her date was.

"Not so fast," I told her, "Just for the heck of it, I'm going to blindfold you; then once you're in the car, your date will take it off, ok?"

"Freedra, what sort of an idiot do you take me for?"

"Well, I could just cancel the whole thing, but"

"No! No, I'll do it."

I smile and blindfolded her and led her to my car.

As soon as her ate had the blindfold off of her, she shrieked.

Hunter and I, along with her blind date, covered out ears.

"Cam?" she gasped, "Oh my gosh! Freedra, youâ."

"And we're out of here," I said, tearing away from the campus, "So, where do you guys wanna go first?"

We heard a growl of someone's stomach. I giggled cause I knew that sound all too well.

"Restaurant then," I concluded, giving Hunter a sideways glance. "Where do you want to eat? Cause otherwise, we'll stop by someplace cheap and gross."

"Why don't we stop by a store and pick up some stuff for an outdoor meal?" Cam suggested, sliding an arm around Candace.

I noticed her blush a little and said, "To the store, then."

When I parked, I gut out and went to the trunk to get Hunter's collapsible wheelchair and put it together.

I wheeled it to the passenger's side door. "Special delivery," I said as he opened the door.

He just looked at me.

"Hey, if you don't want itâ." I began to wheel it away.

"Don't you dare, Freed," he said.

I winked, brought it back and held it in place as he got himself out and in the chair.

"24-hour Super Wal-Marts," Cam said, "There's got to be something better."

I looked at him like he were serious, but he saw and added, "How long ago were you blonde? You still might have the effects."

"Hey!" Hunter interjected.

"Sarcasm," I replied, "Great"

We went in and got what we thought we might need, sandwich stuff, soda, candy, chips.

"ok," I asked, "are we good to go?"

"Think so," Candy said after being so quiet that it was near shocking that she could be that quiet.

As Cam and Candy went up to check out, Hunter asked, "Hey, Freed, do me a favor?"

"Sure" I replied uncertainly.

"You wouldn't mind helping me wheel to the front, would you?"

"If you mean push you, forget it," I replied. "I'm not strong enough."

"No, just help," he assured me, taking my hand and putting it onto a handle in the back, then started wheeling himself forward with myself being pulled along in the back for a second, but then I helped push him.

"Just like that," he told me. "See? I told you 'just help'."

I shook my head as Cam and Candace where waiting up front.

"Oh," I said; then asked, "Who paid?"

"I did," Cam replied.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner. I'll pay you"

"Don't bother," he replied, "I actually owed you."

"You're so sweet," I told him, and we headed to my car and headed out.

"So," I asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"The park?" Candace suggested.

Everyone else agreed and I found myself driving to the park.

As Cam helped Hunter, Candy and I got he stuff and a blanket I always keep in the trunk, and went to find a good spot.

"We should find some light," I told Candy before shrieking and falling into someone's lap. "See? I knew this would happen," I turned to the one person who would ever do that and said, "You're evil, Hunter Bradley."

"Yeah," he admitted, "But you know you like it."

"Cam," I said. "In the driver's side door thingy, there's a couple of flashlights and a pack of extra batteries."

He nodded, or at least I think he did, and went to get them, and was then followed by Candace for some odd reason.

After she did leave, Hunter pulled me into a kiss and at first, I agreed for a slight make-out session, but stopped, regrettably, knowing Tru would find out one way or another.

Hunter looked at me concerned. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I can't do this right now," I told him. "Tru's going to find out some how, and she's chew me out."

"Should it matter what she says?"

"Wellââ.."

"And besides," he added, "She's not here right now, is she?"

"I suppose not, but"

"No 'but's. C'mon, you've gotta not let her control you life or your writing."

I looked at him confused.

"Dustin snuck into your place and 'borrowed' a story you were working on."

"Yeah?" I asked, making a mental note to "kill" Dustin.

"Yeah, a lot of people were right. You are pretty good."

I blushed a bit. "Um, wow, thanks," I replied, and gave him a small kiss.

But, I guess, that wasn't what his plan, and what I expected to be a small harmless kiss, turned into a full blow, not so PG 13 lip lock.

I would have stopped, but he had his hand on the back of my neck to make the attempt pointless.

Before I knew it, we had a bright light careening on us, so he moved his hand to block his eyes.

I couldn't say anything; I jumped up.

We heard laughing, and Candy said, "You two, I swear."

The rest of the night went particularly smoothly. We ate; we were merry, and when it was over, we went back to the campus.

Ok, that's the end of chapter 5. Come back later to see what else happens!

Yeah, I know I've thrown myself into a particularly embarrassing moment. So sue me. It was for the sake of the story. I couldn't see anyway around it, I knew it had to be there for some sort of laugh. True, don't give me that look! I knew what I was doing. Sort of.

And don't say what ur gonna say about the whole mushy love stuff, cause that's how I write. Now that that's out of my system, please review. Much appreciation to all readers. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6, The Final One

Official last chapter to this story..... 

The next morning, a Saturday, I got up and headed to the library, alone, for yet another tutoring session with Dustin. For the most part, the sessions were going pretty good, but he's just a bit frustrating, that's all. And somehow I've managed to keep my head about me.  
When I got there, I got a feeling that something wasn't right somewhere, but I headed to the library anyways.

"Dustin, I-" I said, looking in my bag then looking into the room, but I didn't see Dustin. However, I did see the yellow ranger and a bunch of things I didn't recognize.

When he looked back, he shouted, "Freed, get out of here."

Stunned I did as I was told.

As I sat outside the library, I wondered how he knew my name. I mean, I never met him before, nor was I introduced to him, but the stranges thing of all was that he sounded percurliarly like Dustin.

'Maybe it's only a coincidence," I thought. Or maybe Dustin was the yellow ranger.  
I'm what's called a skepticist, so I tend to think on things that most people don't. But I ended up dropping the matter all together.

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

Immideately I was thrown out of my thoughts. "Huh?" I asked looking around until my eyes found him. "Oh, hey, Dustin."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You look a little freaked out, that's all."

"Hey, we're got to to that tutoring thing, don't we? Well, then, let's get started."

Basically for half of the day, I tried to explain his math assignment to him; it worked, sort of. We quit, because he had to go to practice for his next big race.

The next day, I went up to Hunter's, only to find he wasn't there. Before this, I had recieved a rather disturbing call.

"Huh," I wondered, so I headed back to my dorm room, where I found him. The vibe from the room was awkward, as he and Tru were talking, if that's what you want to call it.

"Hey," I said, "What's up?"

They looked at me like.......I don't know what.

"What just happened."

"I'll see you later, Freed," Hunter told me as he left. I closed the door behind him, because it seemed as though he needed to be alone for a bit.

"What the hell just happened, Tru?" I asked my roommate.

"Nothing...." she replied.

"Tru...." I said sad and frustrated. She didn't even know about the call, although she did remind me several times throughout that call that I "couldn't use the phone".

I turned around and left again.

"Where are you going?" she asked me.

"Out," I replied and I ran down the stairs and went after him. When I did find him, I shouted for him to wait up. Thankfully he stopped, and as soon as I caught up to him, I fell to my knees beside him.

"I'm sorry for whatever she said to you," I told him. "It's just that I got an awful call this morning and I needed to talk to you. But then I saw," I swallowed hard, "You and Tru....I didn't mean for all this to happen. I don't know."

"Freed, what?" he asked me, "slow down. First of all, I'm not mad at you; second, she didn't say anything, least nothing that made sense. And last, what about that phone call."

"I-I don't know. Shane sounded so sad when he called. But he said he wanted me to go over to his dorm room." I stood up and brushed my knees off, and told him that I needed to get going.

When I got there, I knocked on the door, only to be met by a frazzled looking Shane.

"What, Shane, what happened?"

"I-Idon't know," he replied, getting jumpy.

"Ok, relax, where's Dus-oh....what happened? Tell me, don't tell me, I don't care."

Eventually he did tell me. Turned out that Dustin had crashed again, only he didn't escape with just a cuncussion. He was immideately hospitalized for a broken neck and severe internal bleeding.  
All I could do was close my eyes, swallow and hope it was all just a bad dream.

"Thanks," I managed to say, "for telling me. "I know you must hurt."

"Yeah."

"Keep me updated."

"Sure."

"Thanks."

I knew it was selfish of me, but my b-day was coming up soon and he was always there in the past and I guess it wouldn't be the same if he.

I wiped the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.

I don't know why  
The good man dies  
And evil gets away.  
No matter where I go  
From shore to shore  
And sea to shining sea  
I'll never know friends like these  
And memories held dear to me.  
I know I'll cry  
When the good man dies  
And evil gets away.

"Hey, Freed, why so sad?" Candy asked me when I turned in my poem.

I shrugged as she put it in anyways, and I left for my next class.

That week went by so slowly and when Saturday, my b-day, came I was in no means happy. Mostly because Dustin really hadn't gotten any better.

"C'mon," Hunter said, "the guys have a surprize for you, and I got you something."

"Hunter, you didn't--"

"I wanted to," and he handed me a small box. When I opened it, I saw a beautiful silver and crimson promise ring.

I smiled and thanked him as he slipped it on my finger. "It's beautiful," I kissed him.

"No problem," he replied.

A few minutes later, Shane came in and blindfolded me and lead me into a car and it drove off. When it finally stopped, a pair of hands grabbed my arm and I was being lead into a building.

"Guys...." I began, but then stopped.

After a quick elevator ride, we stopped.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You'll see," Shane replied, taking off the blindfold. "Where-" I began as I turned to face the room to see the only personI needed to see all week long. As soon as I saw him, I was deathly speechless.

All he did was stood there and smiled.

"Hey," I finally said.

"Hey," he returned, "Long time, no see."

"You have no idea," I told him. Thankfully nothing seemingly bad happened. "Everything's ok?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Everything's fine."

"That's awesome."

As they say, "Time flies when your having fun", and boy did it. Just being with your friends makes it all worth it. Cam graduted top of the clas, though we all got some sort of honor.

I now have an awesome job as a magazine reporter, though it's not exactly what I wanted to do. At least it's something, and it does have its perks.

But, somewhere between graduation and the present, I lost touch with everyone, including Hunter, although I still wear the ring he gave me. I guess I kinda forgot about them until recently when I went through the old year book. I suppose maybe one day our lives would cross again.

Maybe.


End file.
